Jackson Jambalaya

Only a matter of when for the next Pearl devastation of Jackson. Not if.

And after the Easter Flood of 1979 not one thing was done to get prepared for the next one.

Tell us what we are looking at since we live in Mississippi

As we know, it never rains in Tiger Stadium.

6:49, That’s not true; I took my family and my wealth and left. I’ve had a great life since.

Downtown BR by the River is super nice. I would have never believed the water would be that close to the top of the levy. Dang

I remember the 79 flood. I can't believe after that people still are opposed to the lakes project. Absolutely mind blowing. That alone sums up Mississippi in a nutshell.

Before pics would be helpful.

Rumor has it that 550,000 acres of the Mississippi South Delta are flooded as well, not that many care to report on. Do a little research on the levees, pumps and politics - interesting stuff. Lots of people displaced, farms out of commission, wildlife displaced/dead - it’s a mess that I’m not sure many have heard about.

“Only a matter of when for the next Pearl devastation of Jackson. Not if.”

Anyone have a map of what areas that impacted?

Allowing development in the Pearl basin has made Pearl River flooding worse than it would have been Look at all the dirt filling and development in the flood way out Lakeland Drive. Look at all the housing development in the river floodway areas east of Old Canton Road. Local developers and governments looking the other way have made this problem worse.

9:21 - 'rumor' my ass. While the media focuses on the midwest and this blog posts photos of Louisiana, there have been upwards of a million acres flooded in the Mississippi Delta for four damned months. Houses, sheds, barns, stores, new construction, airplane hangars, farm land...you name it. Take a Sunday drive from Vicksburg to Rolling Fork and you'll think you're crossing Pontchartrain.

Meanwhile, the collective thumbs of Bennie, Phil and Tate are up their asses.

Get real! The Delta flooding is covered on the local TV channels almost daily on the evening news.

A large part of what mankind cannot control starts with a “W”.

It’s called a flood plain for a reason....

Bennie Thompson is against the lakes project so lot's of help he is, NOT!
Too busy wanting to impeach Trump.

6:49 pm That's just not true.
There was a massive effort to clean growth and debris from creeks. There were public and private measures to regrade and rebuild structures.
And, the area of the flood plain was increased so those who weren't eligible for flood insurance before the flood became eligible.
Was it enough? No. But, that was a matter of money.
Was it always going to happen again? Yes, but our politicians and few of our citizens trust science.
Today we are debating if climate change is natural or man-made. But, we are not preparing for the inevitability despite the cause, are we? So, get off your high horse.

Yet again, no reporting on the flood that has been going on for 112 days in our own back yard. Lets worry about Lousy-anna.

Above average snowfall in midwest and it all has to drain down the Mississippi to the Gulf...

3:16 AM, I'm no fan of the 3 you mentioned...but having personally owned land on the Pearl, Big Black and Yazoo Rivers...and leased land on the Mississippi River, I knew these tracks to be in flood zones...and therefore expected them to flood from time to time.

What exactly do you expect Bennie, Phil and Tate to do?...and please, be specific.


8:34 PM, the answer might not be some tax payer funded project for the few who choose to buy homes in flood zones, the answer might be to educate the public to either not buy their home in a flood zone...or understand that if you do buy a home in a flood zone...your home might flood. Just saying.

I agree with you 9:04 am. The same situation holds true for people that want to live within spitting distance of the ocean. At some point, a hurricane is going to hit wherever one chooses to live on the coast, and there's not a damn thing that we as human beings can do about it. Nature disasters are just going to happen whether it be floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc., and at some point we have to take personal responsibility if we have chosen to live in an at-risk area. We can try as hard as we possibly can to control or contain Mother Nature, but she is always going to win in the end.

ahhhh 3:16, nut'n in Bennie's District but a bunch of dirt and open sewers.

Flooding renews the soil by bring a new top covering of sediment and flushing out the sewers.

Nature is going to win sooner or later no mater what you do, but since you're probably a holder of a "Certificate of Attendance" from the JPS system, you were most likely absent the day that was covered.

Golly Gee, how could this happen????? The Ole Man River flooding!! Never happened before.

Must. Bury. Head. Further.

9:31 is right on the money. Some farmers are going to lose, some are going to win as prices for cotton, beans and corn will go up. Man can challenge nature but can never fully win control.

KF, I see the casino in the pics, where is the USS Kidd? Do they move it during flood events?

@ 8:09. Certainly you must mean Women. Lol

What people don't realize is the flooding in the MS Delta isn't a direct correlation to the MS river rising. In the 40's the flood control act built those big flood control reservoirs in North MS(Sardis, Grenada, Enid, and Arkabutla. They then built levees to channel it down to the South Delta. In doing that the created levees and the Steel Bayou Control Structure to get it out to the Yazoo River and into the MS River. That control structure also closes to keep the high water from the MS River from backing up into the Delta. In doing that they created a stopper in a bathtub situation. When the MS River is high, and the gates are shut all is fine unless we get rain from pretty much NE MS down. All that water starts to back up. The original plans were to install pumps to pump the back water over the structure and into the Yazoo and out to the MS River. It was funded, paid for, etc since the 40's. Never happened. About 10-20 years ago the south delta started pushing for this to be reevaluated. Groups like the Sierra Club, and other "conservation" groups pushed for it. The EPA vetoed it. These groups and the EPA are 150% directly responsible for the loss of property, the wildlife that has been decimated and are starving to death, and the fuels and chemicals polluting the water currently. All under the premise that these backwater pumps were going to "drain the wetlands", even though that would never be possible by virtue of design. Screw the hippies and F*ck the EPA. This is the biggest screw job in this state's history. High river water is one thing but the lower MS Delta flooding is 500% man made.

When the Mississippi River is up, the South Delta floods. Been happening for centuries, and will continue for centuries more. All of the rain that falls in the MS Delta from Memphis to Vicksburg funnels into two rivers: 1) the Sunflower River; and 2) the Yazoo River. Those two rivers empty into the Mississippi River at the Steele Bayou gate in Vicksburg. Problem is, when the Mississippi is higher than the Yazoo, the Steele Bayou gate MUST be closed to prevent the Mississippi from backing up into the Yazoo and Sunflower, causing more flooding from the Mississippi River. But, while the Mississippi is up and the Steele Bayou gate closed, all that water from the Sunflower and Yazoo causes the flooding in the South Delta. The South Delta is like a big bathtub, and the Steele Bayou gate is the drain.

Might be time to open the Morganza Spillway. It's still raining north of here.

History lesson here. Native Americans built elevated "Indian Mounds" in the MS Delta in past centuries. Why? Because the MS River has ALWAYS periodically caused flooding in the MS Delta. The Indians knew it, expected it, and they intelligently adjusted their way of life to live in the MS Delta.

1:05 PM said “What people don't realize is the flooding in the MS Delta isn't a direct correlation to the MS river rising.” and

“When the MS River is high, and the gates are shut all is fine unless we get rain from pretty much NE MS down. All that water starts to back up.”

Excepts from April 1, 2019 USACE News Release: “The Steele Bayou Control Structure, which was built in 1969, combined with the Mississippi River and Yazoo Backwater levees, prevents the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers from backing up and further flooding the Delta.”

and “Due to excessive rainfall in the Mississippi Valley and Yazoo Basin in February 2019, the Steele Bayou Control Structure’s gates have been closed since Feb. 15. The structure’s gates are opened when elevations on the Mississippi River fall below the elevation of water in the interior Yazoo Backwater area.”

You do not need to be an engineer to figure this out. The MS River is higher than the Yazoo, or the Steele Bayou gates would be open, i.e. if not for the Steele Bayou Control Structure, the south Delta would be flooded MORE THAN IT IS NOW.

So, one can’t blame the “stopper in a bath tub situation” on the Steele Bayou Control Structure.

If the MS River levees had never been built in the first place, the MS Delta would be flooded more than it is now, or not; since the water would be spread out of millions of acres from Minnesota to New Orleans.

The pumps project vetoed by the EPA is very, very, very likely ladened with politics, since if the right politicians wanted the pumps project, the EPA’s ass would get vetoed.

Everybody wants their flood land to be pumped, i.e. dry. Big problem though: that water must go somewhere and in this case its south. So, what do the folks on the other side and south of the Steele Bayou Control Structure think of the pumps project??? If you need more than one guess to answer this question, this thread is not for you.

During the 1927 flood people armed with weapons walked the MS River levees. Why? Because everybody wanted that damned water to go elsewhere and if a levee had been blown up, say in Arkansas for example, prior to the levee breaking at Mound Landing, the MS Delta would not have been flooded in 1927; because that damned water would have gone somewhere else…in Arkansas.

The pumps project is the same discussion, just without the weapons.

Bottom line: don’t buy land in a flood zone if you want land that does not flood.

"Get real! The Delta flooding is covered on the local TV channels almost daily on the evening news."

The point being, Goober, you hear nothing on the national news about the Mississippi Delta. The one report I have heard referred to the area as 'marsh between Memphis and Baton Rouge'.

There have been THREE 100 year floods in this area in eleven years. This is NOT simply expected seasonal flooding or 'what the hell it's a flood plain'. This is a man-made problem, caused totally by the Environmental Protection Agency who 12 years ago halted the Corps' plan to install the backwater pumps.

If you're ignorant of this situation, just stop posting and educate yourselves.

I was on the Mississippi River Levee near the Vet School in Baton Rouge last weekend and there is a good 8 to 10 feet between the current water level and the crown of the levee. It may be closer to the top downtown, since that is (or used to be the lowest elevation of the levee in town). Not as pressing a problem as the South Delta, but concerning none the less.

Kelly Williams where are you now that we need you?

@3:58 PM - Thank you. Very informative.

What do I expect Phil, Bennie and Tate to do?

Phil should be sitting at Trump's desk on a weekly basis. He claims in all his ads and political speeches to be such good friends with the president and that he has the president's ear. He should be demanding action from the office of the president. He should be on television with MEMA officials evaluating and protecting and planning and demanding action. If this were a hurricane in the Gulf, he'd appear every evening on the news wearing his MEMA windbreaker and exiting from a National Guard helicopter popping off about how involved he is.

Tate, as the heir apparent to Phil's desk (according to Phil), should be actively involved in this discussion. All he's done is pen one letter that ends with 'Let me know if I can help'. He's been out in front of nothing but should be, as a candidate. Similar inaction and attitude cost Mabus election to his second term. He thumbed his nose at the entire Delta and Barbour took his ass to the woodshed as a result of those Delta votes. Meanwhile, Tate's state finance chairman, a millionaire with Delta land holdings is opposed to the pumps and has been actively engaged in killing the project. Tate sits silent.

Bennie has been unconcerned. He should be demanding that the EPA reverse its resistance to the pump-project which has effectively worsened the problem in his Delta District. He attended one meeting in six months...at Holly Bluff and he walked in late for that one and had virtually nothing to say before departing suddenly to join Pocahontas at Jackson State. Bennie has been voiceless yet he was elected 26 years ago to be a voice. He has made NO STATEMENT regarding this tragedy in his state and district.

Tate's family has a pretty nice place at Eagle Lake. I know he is aware of the issue, but not sure why he has been quiet on it. If anyone knows people who are members of the Sierra club, please give them a swift kick. Sierra Club petitioned/lobbied hard against the backwater pumps.

@9:57, good point about Tate's finance man, Billy VanDevander. He has been very outspoken against the pumps. Why, I have no clue as he owns land that is most likely flooded, but you can bet your ass he has a financial reason as to why he is against them. VanDevander pissed so many people off that they basically will never go back to eat at the Onward Store that Molly had brought new life to that she closed it. 17 Billy and 17 Tate.

Anony 5:50PM said "There have been THREE 100 year floods in this area in eleven years. This is NOT simply expected seasonal flooding or 'what the hell it's a flood plain'. This is a man-made problem, caused totally by the Environmental Protection Agency who 12 years ago halted the Corps' plan to install the backwater pumps."


Man-made how? Seriously...I'm not disagreeing just trying to find out why "there have been THREE 100 year floods in this area in eleven years."

Certainly you are not saying its the EPAs fault due to halting "the Corps' plan to install the backwater pumps;" are you???

What has the EPA done north of Steele Bayou to cause the "THREE 100 year floods in this area in eleven years?"

Everyone needs to read Kelly Williams blogs on “Bigger Pie Forum” about river flooding. Excellent explanation!

Also the Steel Bayou structure does not block the Yazoo River. The Mississippi River does back up the Yazoo. There is a levee on the east side of the Yazoo from Satartia south ( and the levee May go north of Satartia). Usually the land outside the levee does not flood. But this year they cant open the gates to let the rain water drain into the Yazoo because it is too high and would flood the land outside the levee if opened so some of it is flooded.

3:37 obviously keeps up with nothing and understands even less. He has no clue how backwater flooding originates, how it could have been controlled or how the pump project that was halted by the EPA could have solved this problem 20 years ago.

Hundreds of USAC Engineers are evaluating their retirement plans and this will cost Tater the election.

11:07 - Billy believes he can buy flooded land for twelve cents on the dollar and turn it into federal wetlands for his hobby, just as he has done with thousands of other acres.

5:50 and 5:07 is/are so smart he/they couldn't answer 3:37's questions.

Because pumps that were never there in the first place can't be responsible "THREE 100 year floods in this area in eleven years;" hence the reason we get no answer to 3:37's questions.